Military trainings conducted in the area of the Palestinian Jordan Valley (Al-Ghoor) are a means created by the Israeli occupation to strike the very presence of Palestinians. The occupation chooses sensitive times around the year to carry out such activities. Undoubtedly, military activities have a very negative impact, in the long and short term, on the life in the area at all levels.

It should be marked that the Israeli occupation army has lately conducted military trainings in different and random locations; the trainings were intense in the peripheries of the following Bedouin communities namely (Al-Farisiya, Um Al Jamal, Humsa, Humsa Al-Fauqa, Makhoul, Al-Ras Al-Ahmar, Al-Burj, Al-Miteh, Lafjam and Al-Tawil).

As a result for transforming pastures into training zones; hundreds of dunums were torched due to military activities in the area. Land Research Center has lately reported the torching of 500 dunums in the area of Humsa Al-Fauqa due to a grenade hurled into a field. This will deprive locals benefiting from their agricultural lands and pastures and will force them to buy expensive fodder to feed the sheep instead of the fodder they used to plant and harvest in their lands.

Many Bedouins and residences fell under the circle of threat due to their proximity to the military trainings. A number of citizens were reported to fall dead due to training leftovers where some others sustained injuries and lifelong disability, not mentioning the house and structure which were damaged as a result. Shepherd Ahmad Abu Al-Sheikh (41) died due to bomb leftover while grazing his herd in the area. In 2015, the kid Ali Al-Awad sustained injuries due to a military leftover that exploded in the area.

As the wheat harvesting season draws near, dozers and tanks of the occupation conduct field maneuvers, damaging the crops and the land itself.

Photos 1-3: setting up the military camps amidst agricultural lands
with a view of machineries advancing in the area

The Palestinian Jordan Valley al-ghoor is known for its abundance of pastures and water, not mentioning the beauty of its sceneries and unique nature. For Palestinian, al-ghoor is the Palestine gate to the east.

Since 1967 , the Israeli occupation worked day and night to take over al-ghoor area and its natural resources in all possible ways even those that contradict human rights. Thus, it declared the whole area (720,000 dunums) as the eastern border with Jordan. Minister of Labor Yegal Alon once said: “In order for the integration between the safety of the country and its Jadishness, the Jordan river must be drawn as the eastern border of Israel”.

To achieve that, the occupation transformed vast areas into military training camps (400,000 dunums) and established 97 military base. In addition to that, pastoral areas nearby Bedouin communities were changed into landmines fields, leaving Bedouins; especially kids under imminent danger.

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